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The Royal Philharmonic Society has announced the nominees for this year’s RPS Music Awards. The 13 categories recognise the outstanding achievements made by artists and organisations in 2014. RPS chairman John Gilhooly said of the range of nominations: ‘These shortlists show the wonderful diversity of musical activity nationwide and a common purpose that drives the very finest work. This is an outstanding line-up of forward-looking, clear-sighted musicians and organisations that ceaselessly strive for excellence and have a deeply ingrained desire to communicate to as many people as possible.’

Gillian Moore, the Southbank Centre’s head of classical music, has been promoted to the new position of director of music with a brief to explore new projects. ‘I am delighted to announce Gillian’s newly created role which reflects her huge contribution working closely with me and the rest of the team on the development of the festival programme over the last few years,’ said Jude Kelly, the SBC’s artistic director.

Peter Katin, who died on 19 March at age 84, belonged to a generation of virtuoso pianists who tackled concertos as well as the sotto voce salon intimacy of romantic keyboard works. Unlike American contemporaries such as Gary Graffman, Eugene Istomin, and Leon Fleischer, Katin’s early education was a much-interrupted, scattershot affair. This was due to the Blitz as well as inborn distrust in relying on full-time mentors to resolve musical problems.

Four out of five visitors to London come for the culture, said London mayor Boris Johnson, but more needs to be done to realise the city’s cultural potential. A new report, The Value of Cultural Tourism to London, produced by the Greater London Assembly, has shown that in 2013 cultural tourists spent £7.3bn in London, generating £3.2bn for the economy and supporting 80,000 jobs.

The British Council has announced Scene Change, the latest part of its four year Transform programme, building artistic and cultural partnerships between the UK and Brazil. Scene Change will run until September 2016 and focuses on theatre and opera production, with exchanges of students, project managers and education practitioners between the UK and Brazil.

The treasury has released its response to the consultation on tax relief for orchestras, significantly broadening its definition of what constitutes an orchestra. 'To ensure that the full range of orchestras can benefit from tax relief, the government has changed the definition so that the majority of performances must have at least 12 players from a minimum of one of the string, woodwind, percussion and brass sections,' reads the response document.

The impact of an 11.2% cut in the budget of Arts Council Northern Ireland (ACNI) has been revealed, with the Ulster Orchestra and Belfast’s Grand Opera House both seeing £100,000 reductions year-on-year. NI Opera is one of few organisations to see an increase, its grant rising by £40,000 to £561,569.

The London Symphony Orchestra has launched a new composer residency to celebrate the legacy of Kenyan-born poet, novelist, philosopher of mathematics and British civil servant Khadambi Asalache. The two-year residency will be held by Cevanne Horrocks-Hopayian, current LSO Soundhub associate, and based at Asalache’s former residence, the National Trust’s 575 Wandsworth Road in London.

Rhinegold Publishing has launched Rhinegold TV, which will host from Rhinegold’s own events including the Rhinegold LIVE concert series and Music Education Expo, as well as content from partner producers, at www.rhinegold.co.uk/tv/.

Recent comments

Cheryl Frances-Hoad: When will sexism stop tainting my profession?I have to say I found this article slightly odd. I attend concerts regularly and am nearly always pleasantly surprised to see how many female orchestral players there are in our symphony orchestras and other musical groups. I agree there are many fewer female composers and conductors than males ones, but surely you wouldn't suggest "positive discrimination"? Peter HodgsonPeter Hodgson - Mar 22, 12:49 PM

Philip Borg-Wheeler: Why is Sibelius still a foreign language to so many?Glad to see you are still flying the flag for the unsurpassable Paavo, Philip. I totally agree about Rattle, Davis and others. Nowadays Vanska leads the field with some wonderful work being done here in Cardiff by Danish conductor Thomas Sondergard (a great admirerer of Berglund) and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. I have always liked Ashkenazy in Sibelius too. Of Berglund's three cycles, I still rate his BSO versions above them all. Those readers curious about Berglund should aceess a Fiinnish-made documentary filmed in Helsinki and Bournemouth - it's worth watching for the BSO rehearsal sequences alone, even if you cannot understand the commentary. Martin FurberMartin Furber - Mar 17, 11:20 AM

Geoffrey Baker: 'We need ethically and pedagogically sound music education, not music education in any form'Tricia Tunstall It seems that Mr. Baker and I are at an impasse regarding “authentic scholarship.” His insults to my book include the accusation that it “lacks any discernible grounding in scholarship.” I have never claimed to have written a scholarly work. My book was an honest report on my experiences encountering El Sistema in Venezuela and in the U.S. I have great respect for scholarly work. Changing Lives is reportage, not scholarship. Mr. Baker says his book is scholarship because it includes a host of interviews and citations. However, most of his interviewees remain anonymous, making the research entirely unverifiable. (In my unscholarly book, I do attributes every quote by name.) Further, his citations are all in support of his views; there is no acknowledgment that in fact there are many people, scholarly and otherwise, who hold views opposing his. For these reasons, I cannot consider his work a model of scholarly endeavor. Regarding Mr. Baker’s assertion that my portrayal of Maestro Abreu constitutes hagiography: how seriously can this be taken, from someone who has called Abreu “the Fuhrer”? And as for his plucking out the three words “in any form” in my sentence in support of music education,...Tricia Tunstall - Jan 24, 8:59 PM

Tricia Tunstall: Geoffrey Baker's El Sistema denunciation has the feel of a vendettaTricia Tunstall Geoff Baker has chosen to attack me from a personal angle, beginning with his first, intentionally insulting sentence. I am compelled, therefore, to address his misrepresentations. To be clear: I have never once been paid by El Sistema. And I was a successful independent writer and music educator for three decades before discovering and becoming an enthusiast about El Sistema five years ago. As for “hitching” my career: Are we to understand that Baker’s crusade against El Sistema has nothing to do with building his own career? Further, I have never claimed that I am a scholar or that my books are scholarly. However, I have had a number of years of graduate study in musicology and music education, and I have great respect for the scrupulous attribution-based research and deliberate moderation of tone that characterize fine academic scholarship. I do not see these qualities in great evidence in Baker’s book. On the grounds that Maestro Abreu’s grandparents were Italian immigrants, Baker scorns my claim that Abreu and the eleven other Sistema founders were “native Venezuelans.” I believe that quite a large percentage of Americans, both North and South, would be surprised to hear that having immigrant grandparents...Tricia Tunstall - Dec 16, 5:26 PM